Elixir vs Analysis Plus Black Oval

[johnnybegoode]

After some research and youtube listening, I narrowed down to 2 cables
Has anyone done a direct comparison of these 2?

[chervokas]

Originally Posted by johnnybegoode

After some research and youtube listening, I narrowed down to 2 cables
Has anyone done a direct comparison of these 2?

I haven't used either of these cables but I believe they have very different capacitance specs. There's no guitar cable sold with lower capacitance than the Elixir at 10 pF/ft. That's going to sound much brighter and more open -- especially with single coils -- than just about any other cable you're going to use. I'm not sure what capacitance is on the Analysis cable but it's almost certainly higher so the cable will likely be warmer and more mid-focused when compared to the same length of Elixir cable.

Why did you narrow your search down to these two cables? There are many other similarly constructed, similarly priced cables at a range of capacitances.

[dcj98gst]

Have elixir. Sounds great to me. Sorry can't comment on the Analysis plus

[johnnybegoode]

Elixir - I'm convinced by the pf and what I've heard on youtube in comparison.
Analysis Plus is 33pf, seems like that they have some patented and scientifically studies done of hallowed oval and that seems convincing.

Listening to a direct comparison on youtube will help.

[chervokas]

Originally Posted by johnnybegoode

Elixir - I'm convinced by the pf and what I've heard on youtube in comparison.
Analysis Plus is 33pf, seems like that they have some patented and scientifically studies done of hallowed oval and that seems convincing.

Listening to a direct comparison on youtube will help.

I wouldn't put too miuch stock in the scientific claims for of hollow and oval making any difference at audio frequencies. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know what Analysis claims. But remember, if its claims relate to the skin effect, that's not meaningful at even the highest audio frequencies -- which the guitar doesn't even approach anyway. You need to get into super high frequency signals (like in the megahertz range) for that to matter, or be running 1000 feet of cable or more.

Also, be careful with very low capacitance cable. 15 feet of 10 pF/ft cable will probably sound much brighter than 15 feet of 33 pF/ft cable in a guitar system. Some people will like that, many people will find that way too bright. I use 23 pF/ft cable (Gepco XBand) with bright guitars and bright amps and so I find I prefer warm strings -- pure nickel, and depending on the guitar, flatwounds; warm pickups kept well back from the strings. I also sometimes like to use the lower impedance lower gain input on BF amps sometimes. A lot of players aren't going to be doing those things -- with bright strings, bright guitars, bright amps, pickups cranked right up under the strings, 10 pF/ft cable might not sound great, especially if you're preference is for warm, mid-focused tone. If you like bright, open, chimy tone, and if you like to roll back your volume knob to get softer, warmer sound, then yeah, low cap cable can be good. And if I had to run really long cables, 30-50 feet from guitar to first active device, I would only use 10 pF/ft, 30 feet of Elxir delivering basically the same tone as 10 feet of Analysis.

My recommendation is to experiment with some relatively inexpensive, well made cables of different capacitances. Get three 15 foot cables -- say a Gepco XBand (23 pF/ft), a Mogami 2524 (39 pF/ft) and a Canare GS6 (49 pF/ft). They'll each be around $35-$40; each well made and well shielded. And play around with each so you can hear the impact of the differences in capacitance to find out what works in terms of the tone you're looking for and in terms of system matching.

Also, unless the compaison you're hearing is using exactly the same equipment you'll be using it's not going to be that meaningful -- cables don't have a tone of their own, in a guitar circuit the tone they deliver is a function of the interaction between the cable's capacitance, the pickups inductance and the pots resistance....the demo'er may be using pickups with very different inductance than yours, for example. And of course compressed YouTube audio is pretty awful, YouTube demos can be useful, but take 'em for what they're worth.

[cber1517]

I have an Elixir and I've played a couple of AP cables - Yellow Oval and Pro Oval. I can definitely say the AP cables have a warmer, mid emphasis as chervokas has stated which I like for warm, OD tones. The Elixir definitely has the least mid-range of any cables I've owned and compared to my favorite cable, the Lava Soar. If you play clean, you will like the Elixir but if you want more warm, vintagey tones go for the AP. They are very well made cables that should last you a long time.

Hope that helps.

[chervokas]

Originally Posted by cber1517

I have an Elixir and I've played a couple of AP cables - Yellow Oval and Pro Oval. I can definitely say the AP cables have a warmer, mid emphasis as chervokas has stated which I like for warm, OD tones. The Elixir definitely has the least mid-range of any cables I've owned and compared to my favorite cable, the Lava Soar. If you play clean, you will like the Elixir but if you want more warm, vintagey tones go for the AP. They are very well made cables that should last you a long time.

Hope that helps.

Just to put a fine point on this. There's no actual reduction in mid frequencies when you're switching cable capacitance. What you're doing is tuning the resonant frequency of the cable/pickup/pot circuit and that resonance is in the area of the guitar's upper harmonics. So while the bass and mid frequencies are actually staying the same, the apparent balance changes as you emphasize higher or lower part of the upper harmonic spectrum. So to some people low cap cables don't sound so much like they have more treble but instead like the have less bass or midrange.